Ormond police officer suspended after unauthorized database checks

Sunday

An Ormond Beach police officer was suspended without pay after he was investigated for checking the tag number of a vehicle driven by a woman he had never met.

It was the fourth time in 14 months that Officer Justin Pereira was reprimanded, according to police. This time, he served a 12-hour suspension.

Pereira has been with the department for two years.

On Feb. 12, an Ormond Beach police captain conducted an audit of the Driver and Vehicle Information Database, which is regulated by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The captain noticed several checks made the evening of Nov. 14, 2017, that "did not appear to be related to a call," according to an internal affairs report.

On Feb. 19, Lt. D.W. Smith, an internal affairs investigator, told Pereira that an investigation was being initiated, at which time Pereira said, "Oh, that was a girl I went to school with. I didn't run her for any law enforcement reason whatsoever," the report stated.

Based on the findings of the investigation, Pereira checked the tag number of a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The sedan is owned by a couple in DeLand and the wife's daughter, who lives in Port Orange, is the full-time driver of the vehicle. That same daughter is known to frequent Ormond Beach, according to the report.

When questioned about the database inquiry, Pereira said the vehicle was traveling through a parking lot at a "higher speed than normal" and he wanted to check her driving history, Smith stated. The investigator also noted in the report that Pereira never conducted a traffic stop, only a license-plate check.

It was determined that Pereira did not know the driver of the vehicle or her mother. As for his initial comment that he was checking the driving history of a girl he attended school with, Pereira dismissed it as a "nervous, spontaneous utterance."

During the same interview, Pereira originally said he was in the parking lot of a gas station on Nova Road, but it was actually determined during the investigation that he was parked at Destination Daytona on U.S. 1. Pereira later said he couldn't remember where he was that night, Smith wrote in his report.

Mike Scudiero, a spokesman for the Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association, a local police union, said usage of the database, commonly known as "DAVID," is something police agencies watch closely. The state has the authority to take away a police department's privilege to use the system if it detects routine abuse.

Because it is such a useful tool, police agencies "have to take these matters seriously," Scudiero said.

In 2013, a Flagler County sheriff's sergeant was fired after it was discovered he had accessed two databases, including DAVID, to run background checks on his ex-wife. Two years later, an arbitrator ruled that the sergeant be reinstated, but was still critical of his decision-making.

Scudiero said the PBA represents at least five police officers or deputies per year who are investigated for DAVID misuse.

The allegation against Pereira that he engaged in "non-official use of department" computer software was sustained, as was the allegation that he "violated rules, regulations, directives or orders" established by the department. Records show he served his suspension in June.

Pereira's suspension was his first. In April, he was given a written reprimand for delaying the return of an agency vehicle that was loaned to him while his designated vehicle was in the shop for repairs. In March, he received counseling after he was dispatched to a local hospital to take photos of a woman alleged to have been the victim of rape. When she refused to have photos taken, he left without attempting to change her mind, according to police.

In April 2017, Pereira also received counseling after sending an email using a fellow employee's account. Nothing in the message was offensive and the incident was described as a "prank," but it was still a policy violation, police said.

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